Runs were starting to come thick and fast in boundaries however the oldest player on the ground, Ricky Ponting decided to slow things up and kept Butt away from strike for a few overs before introducing Marcus North, the part-time offspinner. Ponting’s move paid off as North invited Butt to go for a flick. Butt who had not faced a delivery for quite some time fell in the trap and was smartly stumped by debutant Tim Paine. As Butt made his way back to the pavilion for a well made 92 under typical overcast English conditions, the writing was pretty much on the wall however there was huge expectations from the duo of Umar Akmal and Umar Amin.

Watching young Asian batsmen is always a treat to the eyes and it was no different with this pair who took the attack to North. Ponting was clever enough to mix his bowlers and persisted with North who was hit for a six by Akmal. The patience paid off as North managed to pull one back which forced Akmal to commit to the short a bit early and that extra turn was enough for the ball to take the edge and land safely in the hands of Clarke at first slip.

With that lunch was taken and it was a matter of time before the game got over unless some traditional Pakistan miracle was about to happen. As
predicted, after lunch North drew immediate blood as Amin was snapped up by Katich at short leg, a regulation by his standards. Much was expected out of the skipper Afridi but the need of the hour was to play for time and it was an alien situation for him as he was playing his first test match after 4 years. He perished in the deep caught at midwicket off North by Hussey. After that Australia wrapped up things in a clinical manner. Mohammed Amer and Kamran Akmal showed some resistance but North continued to have a ball day and ended with 6 wickets hence scripting his name on the visiting team bowler’s honor board, a board where the name of Shane Warne is missing.

A lot was spoken about Australia’s weaklink and the inexperience of the side but they managed to raise to the occasion when it mattered the most and kept their track record clean against Pakistan to whom they have not lost for the last 15 test matches. The Test match went on to become Shahid Afridi’s last test match as he retired from the longer version of the game and he was quite open about his reason: “I was not good enough for test cricket.”

Historical significance:

*    It was for the first time since 1912 that a neutral Test was being played at Lord’s. In 1912 Australia played against South Africa in the Test match tri series which also involved England.
*    This was Rudi Koertzen’s last Test match as an umpire at Lord’s.
*    This was Shahid Afridi’s last match as a Test cricketer.

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The writer is presently a student of Msc. Sports & Leisure Management at The University of Sheffield. He and his friends were at Lord`s to witness the 4th day of the first Test match between Australia and Pakistan.